A Deadly Deception

“Being homosexual is okay with God,” the priest told Stephen. And he added: “God created us this way and loves us just the way we are.” With the blessing of his priest, Stephen embarked upon a perilous lifestyle—a victim of a culture that refuses to hold out hope for homosexuals. Like many homosexuals, Stephen was sexually molested as a young boy. As a teenager he found himself yielding to homosexual desires. It was then that Stephen sought the counsel of his priest—counsel that propelled him into a world of degrading and dangerous sex. Today, Stephen wonders how different his life might have been had he found someone willing to help him overcome his same-sex attraction. Unfortunately, clergymen like Stephen’s aren’t the only cultural leaders who promote the notion that homosexuality is normal. Many health professionals do the same thing. So do some scientists, gay activists, and members of the news media. From every corner of society, homosexuals hear the claim that their condition is permanent and genetically based—that they just have to learn to live with it. But these cultural elites are spreading a false and deadly gospel. First, attempts to demonstrate a biological basis for homosexuality have failed. As an article in Scientific American pointed out, two studies purporting to show that people are born gay proved to be little more than propaganda. One study by Simon Le Vay involved brain research that has never been replicated by other scientists. The second involved gene research by Dean Hamer—research that has been contradicted by another study. Second, contrary to what gay activists claim, many homosexuals are able to overcome their desires. In a recent Wall Street Journal piece, five secular psychiatrists wrote that up to 50 percent of those who seek treatment to overcome homosexuality “experience significant improvement.” Young men “have the right to know” this, these psychiatrists contend. But as Stephen’s story reveals, homosexuals often don’t know, because our cultural leaders tell them just the opposite. Thankfully, Stephen’s story has a happy ending. Loving Christians aided him in finding help to overcome his homosexual desires. Today—more than 10 years later—he is married and the father of three children. But most homosexuals are less fortunate than Stephen. The American Public Health Association reports that more than three-quarters of all homosexuals acquire a sexually-transmitted disease at least once in their lifetime. And one recent study reveals that the average age at death for gay men was only 41. Only 41 years! And many of those years are often spent battling disease. That’s a tragedy that ought to deeply concern the church. In fact, the church ought to be doing everything it can to help homosexuals escape from a lifestyle of disease and death. And we need to argue against the cultural elites: the scientists, the psychiatrists—and, yes, even the clergymen—who claim that homosexuality is permanent and that “Being homosexual is OK with God,” as Stephen’s pastor put it. You and I have to work to assure that all people struggling with same-sex attraction know that homosexuality is an affliction they can escape from... not a lifestyle to die for.

02/20/97